Sunday, July 17, 2011

If your vision does not scare you, it is not big enough!

Dr. Myles Munroe once asserted that one of the most valuable and richest places on earth can be found in cemeteries. That is where you will find best selling books that were never written, olympic records that were never broken, leaders that never lead, people who never reached their full potential, dreams that were never fulfilled, etc.

The other day Daleen (my wife) and I were having dinner with Caleb who is one of our new friends in Lagos. He is from New Zealand but grew up in Papua New Guinea for a significant part of his life. He loves the outdoors and was telling us about many of his adventures and outdoor activities. It struck me that this guy does not wait for others to tell him about their adventures. He does not wait for the next book or BBC series on someone else who lived their dreams. He lives his dream and makes it happen!

This encounter could not have come at a better time and was all that was needed to push me over the "edge of the waterfall".

For months I have been dreaming about my next big adventure. For one reason or the other the dream always got deferred. In an instant it hit me - "JUST DO IT!". That same evening before I went to bed I looked at my calendar and found it. The first two weeks available is August 20 to September 3. That is when I am going to attempt the almost 1,000 km bicycle ride from Lagos (Nigeria) all the way to Accra (Ghana) and back. Four countries (two of which speaks almost no English), effectively six (6) border crossings, malaria infested mozzies, police checkpoints and many more interesting challenges.

Many more greater and more dangerous adventures have been completed by others which would make mine look like a school picnic. The purpose however is not to be bigger or better than anyone else. Other than having fun and enjoying a fantastic adventure, the main purpose of this trip would be to raise funds for a charitable organisation.

I have identified "Wheelchairs for Nigeria" as the organisation I want to support. Go and have a look at their website (http://wheelchairsfornigeria.org/). Simply amazing and very humbling!

The idea is for people to sponsor a wheelchair if I complete the 1,000 km journey as planned. One wheelchair can be produced for only USD150. The more people who support this, the more wheelchairs we can donate.

More details of the planned journey will follow in the coming days...